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Author. Artist. Teacher. Faerie Changeling. My fascination with all things relating to the fantasy realms started as early as I can remember. I’ve studied in depth the lore and mythos of faeries, witches, elves, and vampires. There’s something so compelling about them, so it made sense I would grow up reading and writing about them. Now, as a full-time author, it remains my favorite subject to explore. The parallels between the world we see and the world of the unseen are enchanting. There is, after all, more to heaven and earth than meets the eye… and it’s in those unseen spaces in between that I find myself most at home.
Wow, it is nearly impossible to choose just one of my faves from Holly Black’s faerie stories. They are all amazing! Seriously…. Every. Last. One. But what grabbed me with this book was the way it started. This story has an eerie feel to it from the very first page. I love how Holly weaves reality into her fantasy and the way the Fae are already known and accepted in their world, but also feared (because hello, they’re Fae!). There's everything in this story, romance, adventure, and coming-of-age badassery, which again bodes well if you ever find yourself face to face with the Faire Folk.
Faeries. Knights. Princes. True love. Think you know how the story goes? Think again ... From the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles comes a dark, dangerous and utterly beautiful faerie tale, guaranteed to steal your heart.
Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries' seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.
In the forest of Fairfold, lies a glass casket. Inside the casket lies a…
Tales of magic have captivated me since I was a small child, and I started writing fantasy stories in high school. But it was only when I discovered the YA faerie subgenre several years ago that I truly found my niche. As my book recommendations will demonstrate, there’s a delicious connection between faerie magic and teenage angst, and it’s the tension that arises that makes for fantastic worldbuilding and storytelling. I hope that you enjoy my top books in the genre and find a new favorite for yourself!
In the first of two books, Stiefvater introduces us to Deirdre, an accomplished teen musician who has just met the mysterious Luke—who just happens to be a faerie that none of her friends or family can see. Oh, and he’s also an assassin. Caught between a mundane life of music recitals, school, and her family on one side, and the dangerous world of faerie on the other, what’s a girl to do? As a nerd and a loner growing up, what I wouldn’t have given for a secret faerie friend who dragged me into a world of magic and danger! Although Stiefvater has gone on to write more complex novels, her faerie duology will always have a place in my heart.
FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL SHIVER
"Vibrant and potent, YA readers searching for faerie stories will be happy to find this accomplished debut novel." –Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This beautiful and out-of-the-ordinary debut novel, with its authentic depiction of Celtic Faerie lore and dangerous forbidden love in a contemporary American setting, will appeal to readers of Nancy Werlin's Impossible and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series." –Booklist (starred review)
"Part adventure, part fantasy, and wholly riveting love story, Lament will delight nearly all audiences with its skillful blend of magic and ordinary life." ―KLIATT (starred review)
Tales of magic have captivated me since I was a small child, and I started writing fantasy stories in high school. But it was only when I discovered the YA faerie subgenre several years ago that I truly found my niche. As my book recommendations will demonstrate, there’s a delicious connection between faerie magic and teenage angst, and it’s the tension that arises that makes for fantastic worldbuilding and storytelling. I hope that you enjoy my top books in the genre and find a new favorite for yourself!
Prepare to have your world turned upside down in this peculiar take on the faerie novel. We meet Cathy as a resident of modern England but learn she’s actually an escapee from “The Nether,” a faerie mirror world that’s stuck in the 19th century. As a historian, I absolutely love how Newman moves characters between the worlds—without time travel! And just imagine being in the shoes of a young woman forced to straddle the freedoms that come with modern life with a life with an arranged marriage. And above all, she must appeal to the whims of the faerie lord who controls her family’s fortunes. Come for the premise, but stick around for her deep world-building and richly-drawn characters (I mean, who doesn’t love a talking gargoyle?)
Beautiful and nuanced as it is dangerous, the manners of Regency and Victorian England blend into a scintillating fusion of contemporary urban fantasy and court intrigue.
Between Mundanus, the world of humans, and Exilium, the world of the Fae, lies the Nether, a mirror-world where the social structure of 19th-century England is preserved by Fae-touched families who remain loyal to their ageless masters. Born into this world is Catherine Rhoeas-Papaver, who escapes it all to live a normal life in Mundanus, free from her parents and the strictures of Fae-touched society. But now she's being dragged back to face an…
Tales of magic have captivated me since I was a small child, and I started writing fantasy stories in high school. But it was only when I discovered the YA faerie subgenre several years ago that I truly found my niche. As my book recommendations will demonstrate, there’s a delicious connection between faerie magic and teenage angst, and it’s the tension that arises that makes for fantastic worldbuilding and storytelling. I hope that you enjoy my top books in the genre and find a new favorite for yourself!
One thing you’ll discover as you read YA tales about the fae is that bored faeries are always causing trouble. In Porter’s novel, they tempt Ksenia’s foster brother and best friend away from her and then put her through a progression of nightmares as she tries to wrest him out of their clutches. There’s so much darkness in this book but it never quite tips into horror. It’s more of that incessant creepiness of the Twilight Zone, with scenes that keep ratcheting up the tension and impossible situations. This isn’t your average faerie tale with romance and hijinks—not by a long shot. But because of all that, it’s an absolute delight to read.
“Sarah Porter is a genius. Her language is lush and dangerous, and her books burn with the beautiful, ferocious intensity of a bonfire in the darkest night.”―Brittany Cavallaro, New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Charlotte
From critically-acclaimed author Sarah Porter comes Never-Contented Things: a standalone surreal young adult fantasy of teenagers ensorcelled into a wicked bargain with otherworldly beings…
Every moment of the night― Forever changing places― And they put out the star-light With the breath from their pale faces… ―Edgar Allan Poe, “Fairy-Land”
Bound by haunting tragedies, Ksenia Adderley and Joshua Korensky have shared a home…
I have always felt strongly that there is a world out there beyond our human comprehension where good and evil are at war. Add in the fact that I might have seen my very own angel, and it is a topic that has both intrigued and inspired me. At first, I snapped up every book I could find on angels and demons. Then, over time, I expanded to movies and TV shows. Finally, after consuming diverse media across genres, I wrote my own book centering on a female protagonist who discovers her own Nephilim heritage, the hard way, of course, with demons!
A strong-willed protagonist who discovers that she isn’t human and wields runes to fight demons invading her world, what’s not to love? Enemies to lovers, plus demons and Nephilim, SWOON!
I consumed this entire series in weeks! It is the OG of Young Adult Fantasy books that include Nephilim. I highly recommend this book series.
Discover this first installment of the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he…
I have been studying Celtic myth and history since I was in college and took a class on Arthurian literature. Drawing heavily from Irish and Welsh lore to build my “land beyond the veil” known as the Five Quarters, I have always been intrigued by the Celtic view of the land of the dead as a distinct world to which we go and then return, like two sides of the mirrored surface of a well. I hope you enjoy these mythic fantasy books as much as I did!
This inventive novel is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but what I enjoyed most about it is the portrayal of the “Fairy Folk” of myth. The Fae.
In most myths, we encounter the dark side of the Fae, the gruesome and frightening side. In modern times we have reduced these creatures to flower fairies. What I loved about this novel is that Maas sticks with the dangerous and malevolent portrayal of these immortals, and she weaves a beautiful mythic tale into their world.
Experience Feyre Archeron's journey all over again with the beautiful collector's edition of A Court of Thorns and Roses, the seductive first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series by Sarah J. Maas, featuring a deluxe new package, an updated map, ribbon pull, and more!
When nineteen-year-old Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin-one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she…
I absolutely adore fantasy! I love leaving our world and being transported to another. I love that characters might have magic or crazy heritages. I love the creatures that come with the genre. I adore everything about fantasy. Throwing romantic elements into the story just makes it all that much sweeter. Having a hero with a weakness for a heroine is so comforting to read. Giving the characters someone else to fight for is also a heart-warming, sometimes gut-wrenching, affair. But in the end, having romance in a fantasy just gives it a little extra push to the readers.
This is another book that I consider to fall under the romance category first. However, I absolutely adored this book because the main character is a morally gray character. I love seeing morally gray characters! I love writing them. It makes the story so much more interesting. It also makes the characters unpredictable, keeping them from falling into the “Mary Sue” category.
They still haven't found the body of the first and only boy who broke Alessandra's heart - and they never will. Since then, all of her relationships have been purely physical. And now at eighteen years old, Alessandra is ready for more. The plan is simple:
1. Make the king fall in love with her. 2. Get him to marry her. 3. Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.
It's no small task, but Alessandra wants a kingdom and is going to do everything within her power to get it. She knows the freshly crowned Shadow King will be…
All my books (I hope!) sweep the reader into another world – it’s one of my favourite themes in the books I love to read, as well as write. When I was about seven, I first read some of the books which would shape my life, including Elidor by Alan Garner and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine l’Engle, which brought me right out of my own life and into worlds as varied as the frightening interstellar realm of Camazotz and the battlefields of Elidor. I’ve been trying to capture that sense of ‘being swept away’ in my own work ever since.
Bell’s Uncommoners series is set in a richly-imagined magical world where everyday objects have extraordinary powers – and when darkness closes in, Seb and Ivy Sparrow must race to uncover an Uncommon mystery before it’s too late. Featuring a talking bicycle bell, police officers armed with toilet brushes, and the incredible city of Londinium, these books will fling you straight into a thrilling adventure.
Welcome to a world where nothing is quite as it seems . . .
Dive head first into the world of Lundinor in this magical adventure story for anyone with a Hogwarts-shaped hole in their life.
When their grandmother Sylvie is rushed to hospital, Ivy Sparrow and her annoying big brother Seb cannot imagine what adventure lies in store. Returning to Sylvie's house, they find it has been ransacked by unknown intruders - before a mysterious feather scratches an ominous message onto the kitchen wall. A very strange policeman turns up on the scene, determined to apprehend them . .…
I am a queer Latinx author and avid reader. Long before I became an author, I was devouring books and losing myself in fantasy worlds. When I got older, I realized how few books in the market looked like me. I didn’t feel represented in the literary world. Now, I create queer fantasy novels that feature strong women of color in sweeping Latin American-inspired settings for future generations.
Set in a Mesoamerican-inspired world, The Lost Dreamer is seeped in Latin culture and tradition.
Everything about this novel reaches deep into my soul and makes me feel more connected to my land and my ancestors. The magic system feels more organic and earth-bound, closer to shamanism than depictions of magic in more modern fantasy novels and I loved it.
The novel follows two courageous and strong Latin women with gifts - a Dream Walker and a Seer. Individually we see them learn to fight for themselves, and for the land and lives they love. The queerness in this novel is intrinsic to the world and story, characters able to be themselves without question or oppression. (At least, not oppression due to their sexuality - which I appreciated!)
A lush, immersive debut fantasy about a group of women whose way of life is threatened by a new king; a fierce celebration of community, sisterhood, and finding our power.
Indir is a Dreamer, descended from a long line of seers; able to see beyond reality, she carries the rare gift of Dreaming truth. But when the beloved king dies, his son has no respect for this time-honored tradition. King Alcan wants an opportunity to bring the Dreamers to a permanent end―an opportunity Indir will give him if he discovers the two secrets she is struggling to keep. As violent…
As a history buff I am also fascinated by folklore and magic, and how it has influenced society during various time periods. I love discovering writers who seamlessly manage to present a parallel magical universe grounded in actual history or who manage to incorporate fantastical or magical elements into a historical novel. Over the last few years I’ve been increasingly drawn to exploring the philosophical, magical, and spiritual underpinnings of society as part of my historical research. Although my own published works to date have been straight historical fiction, my current work in progress is definitely veering into the speculative, alternative history realm.
Although strictly speaking this is a children’s book, I absolutely loved it as an adult reader. It explores all my favorite themes – the role of women in society, the conflict between science and religion, the darker elements of humanity – all wrapped up in murder mystery with the wonderful fantastical premise of a tree that feeds on whispered lies and whose fruit (when eaten) imparts the deepest of truths. Honestly, this novel has it all – a windswept island, forbidden truths, hidden secrets, and a deeply flawed main female character battling against societal expectations in the mid-19th Century.
Faith Sunderly leads a double life. To most people, she is reliable, dull, trustworthy-a proper young lady who knows her place as inferior to men-but inside, Faith is full of questions and curiosity, and she cannot resist a mystery: an unattended envelope, an unlocked door. She also knows secrets no one suspects her of knowing. For one, she knows that her family moved to the close-knit island of Vane because her famous scientist father was fleeing a reputation-destroying scandal. And when her father is discovered dead shortly thereafter, she knows that he was murdered.
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